Exhibitions 2017

Whither the Winds The Malmö Art Academy, at the Occasion of Lund University’s 350th JubileeLunds konsthall, 20 May – 17 September 2017

At the occasion of Lund University’s 350th jubilee, Lunds konsthall dedicates a substantial group exhibition to artists who have taught at the Malmö Art Academy. The Academy, which is part of Lund University, was founded in 1995, continuing the activities of the Forum schools of painting and printmaking in Malmö.

In a relatively short time, the Academy has built a solid reputation for itself. Today it offers an advanced and varied array of courses and programmes, all adapted to the students’ individual needs, and receives a high number of applications every year, not just from all parts of Sweden but also from the neighbouring Nordic countries, Europe and the rest of the world. It is a great advantage for our region that some of the sharpest students and teachers of contemporary art continuously gather here.

The exhibition ‘Whither the Winds’ presents a selection of the many accomplished artists who have been affiliated with the Malmö Art Academy throughout the years: as professors, lecturers and visiting tutors or in the doctoral programme. We get to see works by Rosa Barba, Charif Benhelima, Matthew Buckingham, Jimmie Durham, Maj Hasager, Olav Christopher Jenssen, Mary Kelly, Joachim Koester, Matts Leiderstam, Sharon Lockhart, Lars Nilsson, João Penalva, Nina Roos, Jim Shaw, Sophie Tottie, Emily Wardill and Haegue Yang. Without doubt a magnificent panorama of the many precise forms of expression and modes of storytelling that today’s art comprises.

In collaboration with the ‘Sommarlund’ festival, Lunds konsthall has built a stage in its inner courtyard and developed a programme titled ‘Lunds konsthall Outdoors’. For this we have invited three artists studying at or just graduated from the Malmö Art Academy − Axel Berger, Joana Pereira and Ana Rebordão − to produce three new temporary works in response to the city of Lund and its communities, all meant to be shown in public space. We hope to be able to continue this new initiative also next summer.

Lunds konsthall warmly thanks Professor Gertrud Sandqvist of the Malmö Art Academy for the extraordinary collaborative curatorial process resulting in ‘Wither the Winds’ and for her catalogue essay that provides unique insight into art education today. Heartfelt thanks also to all the artists for the outstanding work they have contributed to this exhibition.

Of course we also wish to thank all the lenders whose generosity have made the exhibition possible: Magasin 3 in Stockholm; Simon Lee Gallery in London; Galleri Riis in Oslo; Galleri Nicolai Wallner in Köpenhamn; Galerie neugerriemschneider in Berlin; Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects; Los Angeles Projects; Galleri Thomas Wallner in Simris, and not least those private lenders who also contributed. A very special thanks to Lund University’s Jubilee Fund and to Birgit and Håkan Ohlsson’s Foundation for supporting the realisation of this exhibition so generously.

Albert WikingWe Have A Dream. About Courage, Compassion and Human Rights18 March 7 – May 2017

Having a dream is a strong motivation. The purpose of the exhibition and the book We Have a Dream is to inspire everyone to dare follow their dreams: big or small, now or later in life. Dreaming gives us power and courage.

Lunds konsthall now shows a selection from 114 portraits, taken all over the world between 2002 and 2016. Each portrait is accompanied by a story, and together they want us to realise that nothing is impossible. The exhibition is a document of our time, showing some of the most influential people in the world alongside youngsters and other ordinary people who really want to influence their immediate surroundings.

We Have a Dream is essentially a photography project, but one that goes beyond the portrait frames. The initiators – Albert Wiking, who took the portraits of the participants, and Oscar Edlund, who interviewed them – wished to make a contribution to a more liveable world by showcasing positive examples. A teeming network of contact persons, agents, managers and other gate-keepers have facilitated, or blocked, their countless attempts to gain access to Nobel Prize winners, royalty, activists, performers, artists, entrepreneurs and everyday fighters. Once the enquiry went through it could still take years to reach an agreement or book a meeting.

‘We and those we portrayed are convinced that art has a real potential to influence us, one person at the time. Our dream is that every viewer will relay the stories to others and become inspired to act. In order to make this happen I believe it was an advantage not to be backed up by any organisation, country or Prime Minister. This, I think, is something the participants found fascinating’, says Albert Wiking.

‘It has been a long journey. It took between four and seven year to secure Malala Yousafzai’s, Ai Wewei’s, Dalai Lama’s and Jane Goodall’s participation in this project. The common denominator for all participants is that they have a touching story to tell’, says Oscar Edlund.

Among those portrayed are members of the punk band Pussy Riot and the Chinese regime critic and artist Ai Weiwei – people who have stood up for democracy. This is also true about the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousfzai, who is fighting for girls’ right to education. Other participants include human rights judge Navi Pillay, musicians Annie Lennox, Quincy Jones, Zara Larsson, Patti Smith and Timbuktu, model and actress Ruby Rose, writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yeonmi Park, as well as UN functionaries Anders Kompass and Jan Eliasson.

One of the first to be photographed was Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. Her portrait was taken in Lund and the interview was scheduled to happen later. Soon afterwards she was brutally killed by a deranged assailant. She has, however, left her imprint on this exhibition.

Albert Wiking (1956), initiator, photographer and designer. He has authored a number of exhibitions and books, such as Eldvatten (‘Firewater’, 1998), about well-known and unknown people and their relation to alcohol. After premiering at Lunds konsthall it toured for several years and attracted more than a million visitors.

Oscar Edlund (1979), initiator, responsible for the interviews and for recruiting participants. He has previously worked for Swedish Television, His Majesty the King’s Foundation for Young Leaders and the Nobel Foundation. Wiking and Edlund have previously produced the book and exhibition Rött – mellan kärlek och revolution (‘Red: Between Love and Revolution’, 2001).

Daniel Rydén has written the texts and Henrik Lörstad has created the exhibition audio design.

Every day we are fed stories, observations, confessions, statements, anecdotes. Some of these pass us by, while others may prove decisive for how we view the world.

Modern art used to insist on the difference between things seen and things told. The autonomy of the visual arts was seen as emanating from a profound understanding of silence, a resistance against sequenced narration and ultimately against its dependence on time. Contemporary art offers another perspective. Visuality has become part of a larger toolbox, with various modes of expression that include the spoken and written word.

Indeed, today’s artists often use language as a tool for analysing and transforming everyday stories. In this exhibition, Lunds konsthall presents works by four artists from different countries, born in different decades. What unites them is their interest in personal stories and in probing the distinction between reality and fiction.

Ana Gallardo has met elderly women from Latin America, now residing in Malmö and Lund, and listened to their stories of involuntary migration. She has also more spontaneously met women from the centers for elderly people run by the Municipality of Lund, who have as part of the artist’s work been invited to install a temporary center at Lund konsthall.

Tamar Guimarães scrutinises the inner workings of representation. Where does fiction begin? What can be said, about what, and when? We show a new piece where Guimarães explores this, as well as a co-production by Tamar Guimarães and Kasper Akhøj, a film demonstrating what history might look like when filtered through contemporary criticality.

Emily Wardill is interested in how differently we perceive and process actual events, but also how documentation may influence our understanding of reality. Her films demonstrate how efficiently the dream-like and the absurd may infiltrate the everyday.

A handful of works are presented in this exhibition, and it is no coincidence that they mostly rely on (and relay) stories told by women. They articulate views of reality that seldom reach a wider audience, thus challenging the traditionally male-dominated field of historiography.